Top 54 Cell Phone Store POS Software (Feb 2023)

2023's Best 55 Cell Phone Store POS Systems

Shlomi LaviShlomi Lavi / Feb 06, 2023

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1. Epos Now

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $39 per user/month
  • Mar 09, 2022
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Epos Now is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) software offering users a unified platform in which they can control inventory, employee activity and back office.


2. Shopify

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $29 per month
  • Mar 09, 2022
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Shopify is a web-based eCommerce shopping platform that is fully customizable to suit any type of business needs. This hosted shopping cart application allows anyone to sell goods and services on the web. The program is easy to use and setting up of an online shop would only take a couple of minutes...


3. LightSpeed

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $69 per month
  • Mar 10, 2022
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LightSpeed software is a point of sale solution that helps retailers run their businesses. The solution has a number of capabilities that include merchant services that manage all transactions from one place and increases security.


4. AmberPOS

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $999 per license
  • Mar 11, 2022
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AmberPOS software is a point of sale and retail management solution that is designed for small and midsize businesses. It offers a number of features that include a customer management function that establishes, tracks and maximizes the lifetime value of each customer.


5. Aralco POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $99 per month
  • Mar 14, 2022
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Aralco POS is a cloud-based point of sale and inventory management software solution that has an e-commerce integration. Aralco POS is designed with a goal, which is to meet the needs of the small and mid-size retailers within the footwear, automotive and industrial supplies, apparel, as well as pha...


6. PHP Point Of Sale

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $28.25 per month
  • Mar 20, 2022
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PHP Point of Sale is a cloud-based point of sale software that helps drive small retail businesses to more customer-focused and profit-generating establishments.


7. AIMsi POS

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $995 per license
  • Apr 18, 2022
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Much more than a typical ‘off the shelf’ package, the AIMsi is a complete point of sale (POS), accounting and business, inventory management application software. This software offers, not only a way to control the inventory, management of the customers, tracking all of the sales, but also includes ...


8. NetSuite POS and Retail Manager

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price:
  • May 13, 2022
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Netsuite POS is a cloud-based business management software developed to work in retail shops in all industries. The software works well in all sizes of businesses, small-sized businesses, medium-sized businesses, and large-sized businesses.


9. Square Register POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $799 per license
  • May 24, 2022
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Square Register POS software is a cloud-based mobile phone app Point of Sale Software available on the App Store and Google Play. Square Register POS is built to operate on a mobile phone or a tablet. Some core features of Square Register POS are online payment processing, inventory & digital receip...


10. Ace Retail POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $675 per license
  • Jun 01, 2022
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Ace Retail POS software is an inventory management point of sale solution. The solution offers a number of functionalities that include an e-commerce integration tool that coordinates between a companys e-commerce site and back-end accounting and inventory system.


Pricing Guide - Cell Phone Store POS Software:

Retail POS Price Range

Most retail point of sale products in the market have pricing based on the number of users, physical locations, machines, or sales outlet. Most products are priced per month, and their pricing can be divided into three tiers, starting from $29 to $39, $39 to $75, and then $75 upwards.

These are the price ranges for basic offerings of most vendors; hence, premium offerings which come with more features cost more. For example, Ricochet pricing starts from $99 per month, KORONA costs about $49 per month, and WooPOS pricing starts from $29 per month. Perpetual licences can also be bought for some retail POS software. An example is RetailEdge which can be bought with a one-time fee of $449.

In addition, retail POS vendors target different organization sizes, so business size determines the price.

  • Small Businesses that are looking for a retail POS system can expect to pay between $25 to $50 on a monthly basis. For instance, Epos Now pricing starts from $39 per month, and ThriftCart starts from $50 per location, per month. Meanwhile, some products have freemium plans for small business, while some products are completely free. For example, HadePay is 100-percent free to use.
  • Medium Businesses can expect pricing points between $50 to $120 for a retail POS system monthly. For example, Heartland Retail pricing starts from around $99 per month, LightSpeed POS from $69 per month, and Realtime Cloud from around $80 per month. The number of user accounts paid for on each plan can also attract discounts, depending on the pricing terms from each vendor.
  • Large Businesses can expect prices that fall between the range of $120 to $500 for a retail POS system monthly. For example, RUnit Realtime Cloud pricing starts from $258 per machine monthly, WinWard System Five from around $125 per month, and Epicor Retail Solutions costs around $350 per month for each user account. However, many vendors do not disclose their pricing for large businesses so as to enable them to adjust their pricing based on the need of each organization.

Here are some Retail POS best of breeds and their price ranges are as follows:

  • Retail Management Software Retail management products can be divided into three tiers, and the price ranges for each tier are $28 to $39, $39 to $83, and $83 above. Also, most retail management products are priced on a monthly basis per user or physical location managed with the software. For example, Quant Retail pricing starts from $180 per user monthly, PHP Point of Sale from $39 per month, and POSExpress costs up to $190 per month.
  • iPad POS Most iPad POS products in the market are priced per user or per usage based on a monthly basis. Their price points fall into two tiers, starting from $0 to $30, and then $30 to $85. For example, TillPoint pricing starts from $29 per month, Ambur POS from around $60 per month, and Loyverse pricing starts from $0.01 per usage every month. Meanwhile, some iPad POS software have perpetual licenses that can be bought with a one-time fee; an example is Digital Dining which costs $10,000.
  • Bar POS Software Bar POS products in the market can be divided into two tiers, with each having a different price range depending on the robustness of features. The price ranges fall within $15 to $40 and $40 to $85. For example, BePOZ Point of Sale pricing starts from $69 per month, HarbourTouch POS from $29 per month, and Unicenta from $49 monthly.
  • Restaurant POS Software For a restaurant POS software, users can expect to pay between the ranges of $50 to $100 above per user, table, or managed location. For example, SpotOn Restaurant pricing starts from $65 monthly, Toast POS from $79 per month, and Upserve POS pricing is around $59 monthly. However, most products may incur extra one-time fees that fall between $2,000 to $7,000 because they require additional hardware equipment to run.
  • Retail Management POS Most Retail Management POS software in the market are priced on a per-user, per-month basis, and their price can fall between three ranges, from $0 to $50, $50 to $100, and then $100+ upwards. For example, Lavu pricing starts from $69 per month, PoinOS from $39 per user monthly, and TouchBistro from around $70 per user monthly.

11. Vend

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $99 per month
  • Jul 02, 2022
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Vend is a cloud-based and on-premise Point of sale system that is specifically designed for use in businesses of all sizes from small-sized businesses, medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises.


12. Smartwerks

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $119 per month
  • Aug 18, 2022
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Smartwerks is a cloud-based Point of Sale software with inventory and accounting solutions. It provides users with a platform where they can sell their products faster, optimize their inventory, reward customer loyalty, and manage item repairs.


13. NOVA Point of Sale

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $89.99 per month
  • May 15, 2022
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The Nova Point of Sale app empowers business owners to be connected and in control all the time. This software offers extremely powerful and efficient tools for store owners for one or more locations. This makes decision making and taking action faster and ensures that people and products are where ...


14. VIENNA Advantage POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: Has a free version
  • May 15, 2022
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Vienna Advantage is a retail ERP software designed to help users automate approvals and tasks. The software supports email SMS integration which makes it possible for users to track all communications related to a particular file or record.


15. Agiliron

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $85 per month
  • Apr 28, 2022
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Agiliron is a Software as a Service and mobile-based point-of-sale (POS) solution designed to cater to both mobile and in-store businesses and the online sales channels. The solution core features include e-commerce, warehouse management order management, email marketing, customer support, and inven...


16. Clover POS

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $39.95 per license
  • May 15, 2022
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Clover POS is an integrated server-based and cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system designed to offer retailers built-in payment solutions. Some of its core features include gift card management, order tracking, data reporting, a point of sale and reporting among others.


17. Cin7

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $299 per 2 users/month
  • May 14, 2022
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Cin7 software is a cloud-based inventory management solution built to support small & midsize wholesale and retail businesses. Cin7 provides inventory management, warehouse management, reporting, and point-of-sale functionality within a single suite.


18. COMCASH Retail ERP

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $125 per license
  • May 25, 2022
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COMCASH ERP is a retail management software solution for multi-channel and multi-location retailers. The software was designed by COMCASH, Inc., headquartered in California, United States. It offers a verity of cloud-based features for efficient regulation of your retail business. 


19. Bindo POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $59 per user/month
  • Jun 17, 2022
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Bindo POS is a retail and POS management system for businesses of all sizes. Its services include inventory management, order management, customer management, analytics, and others. The software was designed and launched by Bindo Labs Inc headquartered in New York, United States.


20. AdaPos more+

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price: starts at $25.42 per month
  • Jun 21, 2022
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AdaPos More+ is an internet-based retail software for businesses to detect and manage online shops, improve retail and POS systems, eliminate hassles in contacting suppliers and facilitate merchandising processes.


21. CellSmartPOS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $45 per month
  • Jun 24, 2022
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CellSmartPOS is a point of sale and retail management solution for small and medium businesses. Its capabilities include inventory management, customer management, accounting management, and others. The software was designed and launched by CellSmartPOS headquartered in New York, United ...


22. NTS Retail Suite

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price: starts at $600 per license
  • Jul 12, 2022
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The NTS Retail Suite is developed by NTS New Technology Systems and it is designed to provide users with server-based solutions and help them in keeping communication with their customers.


23. Brightpearl Software

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price:
  • Jul 04, 2022
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Brightpearl software is an advanced inventory management solution for wholesalers and retailers. The solution offers a number of features that include a bill of material tool that tracks raw material and converts them into finished goods.


24. HIBOUTIK

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $9.90 per month
  • Jul 12, 2022
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Hiboutik is a point of sale software designed to track real-time stock quantities, track sales, manage product returns, classify orders, manage cooking options, and productively engage customers.


25. Mi9 Retail

  • Best for: Medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $150 per feature
  • Aug 24, 2022
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Mi9 Retail is a point of sale software designed as a unified commerce platform where businesses can grow with analytic insights, build loyalty, engage customers, and harness their e-commerce website.


26. Rain POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $99 per user/month
  • Jul 12, 2022
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Rain POS is a web-based point of sale (POS) system and is integrated with the user’s website. This software makes inventory management easy and simple. User’s items are automatically updated every time an item is sold or added.


27. B2B POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price:
  • Jul 23, 2022
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B2B POS is a SaaS-based Retail & POS software that helps carriers maintain 360° visualization of account information to consolidate productivity, customer experience and eliminate double entries.


28. MMS Retail Management Software

  • Best for: Medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Dec 20, 2022
Compare MMS Retail Management Software Vs. Epos Now

MMS Retail Management is a point of sale and retail solution for businesses of all sizes. The services included in the package are inventory management, employee management, business analytics, and others. The software was designed and launched by Master Merchant Systems headquartered in...


29. Copper Point of Sale software

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $34.99 per license
  • Jul 15, 2022
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Copper POS is a retail management and point of sale solution for businesses of all sizes. Its capabilities include support for multiple currencies, inventory control, client management, and others. The software was designed and launched by NCH Software Inc headquartered in Colorado, Unit...


30. STORIS Software

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $529 per license
  • Jul 24, 2022
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STORIS is a Unified Commerce Solution made specifically for home furnishing and appliance retailers. STORIS Software is deployable through the cloud on a subscription basis or on-premise through a one-time license.


31. Starmount Customer Engagement Suite

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price:
  • Jul 30, 2022
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Starmount Customer Engagement is a retail & POS software that provides a personalized shopping experience via mobile and online channels for retailers.


32. CORESense

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $150 per month
  • Jul 26, 2022
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CORESense is end-to-end cloud based retail management software. The software offers solutions for e-Commence, order management, customer relationship and marketing all in one system. The software was developed and launched by CORESense Inc. which is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. CO...


33. iVend Retail

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $160 per month
  • Jul 25, 2022
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iVend Retail is a cloud-based as well as an on-premise point of sale system for retailers as well as wholesalers. The software helps retailers in various industries manage their sales in one platform and makes sure that the process of selling is simplified.


34. POSIM EVO

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $995 per license
  • Aug 15, 2022
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POSIM EVO software is an on-premise POS (point of sale) & inventory management system. POSIM EVO software enables users to select numerous add-on extensions and integrations to transform it to fit their needs.


35. iConnect POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $50 per month
  • Aug 15, 2022
Compare iConnect POS Vs. Epos Now

iConnect POS software is a cloud-based business productivity and a mobile point-of-sale solution suitable for corporates and franchise businesses. The solution which is now Franpos software is a product of Franpos Company founded in 2009 in the United States.


36. Monsoon Commerce

  • Best for: Medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $99 per month
  • Aug 15, 2022
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MoonSoon Commerce is a retail & POS software designed as end-to-end commerce where businesses can facilitate growth and optimize profitability on marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon. The software insightful analytics let in users on sustainable growth and better margins.


37. RQ Retail Management

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $99 per month
  • Aug 02, 2022
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RQ is point of sale (POS) and retail management software designed for businesses selling wireless devices and services. Its core modules include point of sale, inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM) and accounting and reconciliation and online shop widgets. Additional modules a...


38. SalesVu

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $100 per location/month
  • Aug 02, 2022
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Salesvu is a cloud-based software that is developed to assist businesses in managing their activities. The software is designed to work perfectly in small-sized businesses and medium-sized companies.


39. Highline

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: Has a free version
  • Aug 24, 2022
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Highline is a cloud-based retail and POS management solution for businesses of all sizes. It offers such capabilities as inventory management, location management, CRM, and others. The software was designed and launched by Highline Software headquartered in New York, United States.


40. Square for Retail

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $60 per location/month
  • Sep 07, 2022
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Square for Retail is a point of sale software designed to help run retail businesses. With the software, users can manage inventory, sell both online & in-store effectively, and build a strong customer relationship.


41. Tylernet

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Sep 08, 2022
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Tylernet is a fast growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small, medium and large size business. Tylernet received a rating of 4 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (2.3/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


42. MMS Wireless Retail Management Software

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price:
  • Feb 14, 2022
Compare MMS Wireless Retail Management Software Vs. Epos Now

The MMS Wireless Retail Management Software by Master Merchant Systems is designed to give comprehensive and integrated retail management tool for the wireless retail industry.


43. Omni Retailer

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price:
  • Sep 29, 2022
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Omni Retailer is a retail management software designed for retailers that facilitates delivery channels to customers while also providing increased visibility and information over inventory and stock.


44. ShopKeep

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $69 per month
  • Oct 31, 2022
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ShopKeep software is an iPad-based point of sale (POS) solution that usually serves retail businesses, restaurants, franchises, quick-serve businesses, and bars. ShopKeep software is cloud-hosted, and it offers multiple tools to help users manage marketing, registration, booking, staff, inventory, a...


45. MultiFlex RMS General Merchandise

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $895 per license
  • Oct 06, 2022
Compare MultiFlex RMS General Merchandise Vs. Epos Now

MultiFlex RMS is a point of sale and retail management solution for small and medium retail businesses. It offers services related to POS, e-commerce, customer management, inventory management, and other aspects. The software was designed and launched by Microhouse Systems Inc headquarte...


46. HDPOS smart

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $45 per month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare HDPOS smart Vs. Epos Now

HDPOS smart is a growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small and medium size business. HDPOS smart received a rating of 4.6 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.1/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


47. Grassland POS Express

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $10 per user/month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare Grassland POS Express Vs. Epos Now

Grassland POS Express is a trending cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small and medium size business. Grassland POS Express received a rating of 2.5 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.2/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


48. RetailOps

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $2,500 per license
  • Oct 19, 2022
Compare RetailOps Vs. Epos Now

RetailOps is a leading cloud-based Inventory Management software, it is designed to support small, medium and large size business. RetailOps received a rating of 4.7 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (2.4/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


49. OneStep POS Software

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $49 per month
  • Oct 05, 2022
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OneStep is point of sale and distribution software for business management. The software was designed and launched by Business Control System headquartered in New Jersey, United States. The software provides affordable automation solutions that are simple to implement and easy to use. 


50. GoFrugal POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $375 per license
  • Feb 06, 2023
Compare GoFrugal POS Vs. Epos Now

GoFrugal POS is a retail and POS software built for small to large enterprises. Its key features include CRM, distribution management, order management, project management, supply chain management, HR management, inventory management, and billing and invoicing.


51. Lumos

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $29.95 per month
  • Feb 01, 2023
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Lumos is a web based retail and POS management solution for small and medium retail businesses. It offers such capabilities as barcode scanning, inventory management, returns tracking, and others. The software was designed and launched by Lumos Point of Sale headquartered in California, United State...


52. RetailPoint Point of Sale

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $139 per month
  • Feb 10, 2022
Compare RetailPoint Point of Sale Vs. Epos Now

The RetailPoint Point of Sales by RetailPoint by the Enspire Commerce Company is a cloud-based point of sale/POS software helping users with the management of the daily operations of the business in real time.


53. RDT

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $0.15 per license
  • May 31, 2022
Compare RDT Vs. Epos Now

RDT is a Point of Sale/POS retail store management software developed to help the fast-paced environment of the retailing industry.


54. Swiftshop

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $130 per license
  • Feb 11, 2022
Compare Swiftshop Vs. Epos Now

Swiftshop is a growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small, medium and large size business. Swiftshop received a rating of 2.5 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.2/5) when compared to alternative solutions.



A Buyer's Guide to Business Software Solutions

How to Evaluate and Buy Business Software
 
If you’re somehow puzzled if this article is only for a specific size of business, no, it’s not. This is for you SMEs, MNEs and start-ups software buyers. Also, we’re not talking about a specific software solution here. Whether the software solution that you’re planning to buy is for Accounting, Business Intelligence, ERP, CRM, Help Desk, Maintenance Management or other types of application, one thing is for sure; with the help of this article, you will be able to know the right process in evaluating and buying a business software solution.
 
We’ve been into the software business for years and we’re seeing a lot of nitty-gritty things that often bring confusions and hesitations to many companies looking for better software solutions. Some companies can’t afford to let go their legacy systems while a few is encountering technological snags once the new system is in place. While this is the underlying truth behind software acquisition and implementation, what’s exciting about buying a business software solution is that there is a clear and obvious proof that thousands of companies and corporations today are happy with the benefits this technology is bringing into their respective businesses.  There is a significant increase in their revenue and the growth is on-going. And it’s easy to say; many from the Fortune 500 companies are making a lot of money because of their smartly-acquired business software.
 
So, let’s get straight to the point. What should you do in order to acquire that business software that could make your organization achieve its goals? The answer to this is pretty straightforward: evaluate and buy that right business software. Yes, that’s what you need to do and here’s the best manual from ITQlick.com that could certainly help you in doing that strategically.
 
Consider the Needs of Your Organization
Let’s assume that at this point, the entire management team agreed that you are ready to invest on a certain software application. The budget has been compromised and the key persons who will be involved in the acquisition process were already identified. Therefore, it’s time to approach things the project management way.
 
Define the Project
Every business software solution is categorized base on application type, features, deployment model, market size and pricing model. Remember that our objective here is to evaluate and buy a business software product that will fit into the size and present needs of your business. So what the project management team should try to deal with first is to define the real requirements of your business exactly base on the categories set by the software industry. Moreover, by doing this activity, you are already narrowing down your search for the right solution. Now, consider bringing this list of FAQs to the project management and aim to come up with clear-cut answers.
 
  1. What type of software is needed? Is it Integrated-Suite, Best-of-Breed or Industry-Specific? Ask your CEO’s main agenda and find the perfect match from these available options.
  2. What are the core and secondary features? Are you looking for basic, advanced or hi-end features? List down the specific features per category and allow the department managers and supervisors to give their insights on this list.
  3. How are you going to deploy the system? Would it be on-premise, cloud-based, hosted, or mobile-based? Weigh these options with the help of your CIO.
  4. Are you going for Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3 vendors? Their offered solutions are base on the size of their target market - SMEs, MNEs or start-ups. Seek your CFO’s advice as it is important to match your financial capacity against the cost of the solution that the providers have for you.
  5. Are you willing to pay for the perpetuity software license or a subscription-based solution is way better? How many users are there and what would be their roles in using the system? Solicit feedbacks from future end users for they know better what challenges and risks might possibly come along their way when they’re using the system.
 
Finalize the BOM or List of Requirements
After providing definite answers on the above questions, we can say that the project has already been defined. Your procurement team is now ready to do their role in the acquisition process of this solution. However, in order for them to execute their job properly, they must have the complete list of requirements - features, specifications, hardware, and the software product. In other words, the Bill-of-Materials (BOM) that is final, complete and well-prepared must be handed over to the procurement director. Needless to say, it is very important that everybody is following the company purchasing and procurement protocols at all times.  
 
Request for Proposal (RFP)
The RFP process will bring everything into formality. Since you’re more likely in a line of business that doesn’t regularly buy software products, it is of critical importance that your RFP is well-structured before you send it to your prospect solution providers.
 
Draft the RFP
An RFP that contains all the relevant information as discussed during the project management meetings will enable the providers to return back to you their proposal that is complete and substantial. Therefore, your RFP should basically contain the following:
 
Brief Introduction
  • Company Name
  • Mission and Goals
  • Purpose of the RFP (or the need for software solution)
Business Background
  • Organizational Structure
  • Current Situation (IT infrastructure, system currently in-use, system issues and desired solutions, etc.)
  • Major Objectives of the Software Purchase
Request for Specific Requirements
  • Solution Functionality
  • System Specifications
  • Vendor Company Information
  • Price Model, Service Plans, Package Options
Other Important Inquiries (if necessary)
 
Send the RFP
Well-structured RFP will bring a lot of advantages especially when the proposals from various providers are received and then subjected for review and analysis. Send your RFP to at least three to five providers (or prospects which you have already shortlisted during the project definition phase). Depending on the complexity of the solution, most vendors will send their proposal in a matter of time, which could be around 4 to 6 weeks for Integrated-Suite solution.
 
Why still send RFP?
Is there really a need for RFP if your preferred solution (like cloud-based) and the service plans or packages are already displayed on the vendor’s website? Well, yes, you still need to undergo the RFP process. For most sales people, they certainly know that those figures appearing in the vendor’s website are usually the “list price” and not the “actual price”. More importantly, the vendor’s proposal (response to RFP) will serve as your main basis for the negotiation. Therefore, sending an RFP is a strict requirement.
 
Follow up questions relevant to RFP
More often than not, questions and concerns will be raised by the vendors to whom you send the RFP. You have to entertain them with utmost professionalism. Solution providers who are seeking further clarifications relevant to the RFP are consisting of professional software experts who wants to help your organization as much as they can. Entertain them but at the same time, always be cautious when providing additional information which you know is confidential or proprietary.
 
Evaluate the Proposals
Always refer to your finalized BOM when tabulating the contents of each proposal. Part of this process is to check the features that are available from this certain vendor and to cross out those that are not. While using spreadsheet aids the tabulation process, laying down the document proposals on the table and allowing your project management team to review them one by one should always be conducted. Evaluating the proposals in full force can help strengthen your decision-making process. Have another round of brain-storming session and come with the name of your preferred solution provider.
 
When selecting the final vendor, always promote the best interest of your organization. Consider answering these questions with full sincerity.
 
  1. Which vendor can provide the long-term benefits to your organization?
  2. Which vendor can provide the best and honest service from acquisition to full implementation?
  3. Which vendor is willing to devote most of its time in better serving its client?
 
Contact this solution provider and in your own strategic approach, try to get the answers to those three important questions above. In most cases, vendor who really wants to prove its craft will offer product demos on a higher level. Others will even invite you to check their already deployed and working systems. Feel free to connect with this type of vendor. Conduct simulation and testing, be it a cloud-based or on-premise solution. Examine all aspects and angles especially those that your project management team want to really know in-depth. For as long as it could help you arrive at a better decision, consider doing all the options available – for the interest of the organization.
 
Enter the Negotiation Process
Most solutions providers can be flexible in terms of pricing. Although the final say is oftentimes on the mouth of the sales person from the vendor’s side, a good negotiation process can always deliver a win-win situation to both parties involve. While negotiation sometimes cannot be settled in one sitting session, always be honest with your intentions whenever negotiating with your provider. If it’s about your budget, justify it with clarity. If it’s about their service plans, tell them what’s lacking or missing on their solution. At the end of the day, the most important event that should happen is that both of you are shaking hands because of a well done negotiation process.
 
Seal the Contract
So what are you going to do on a contract that involves a significant amount of investment? There are three project management approaches for this.
 
  1. Pass the ball to you legal team. They know what to do and more or less they will tell you if there is something wrong with the contract. Give them enough time to review before they affix their signature and then finally seal the contract.
  2. Hire a consultant base on the technical aspect that you want to clarify in the contract. If it’s the Scope of Work (SOW), a software implementation expert is the right person. If it is related to complex legal terms and conditions, a lawyer can help. If it has something to do with money, invite an accountant to conduct a thorough review and computation if necessary.
  3. Always consider consulting your project management team. Remember that the CIO, CFO and CEO are all team members. They will be the signatories and they know what’s best for the interest of the company when signing a contract agreement.
 
From evaluation to buying stage, it is important that the project manager must take full responsibility of monitoring all the works identified and distributed among team members. This is why delegating the right project manager is also an important consideration when buying a business software solution. And again, ITQlick.com wants to emphasize that whatever the size of your company is, using the project management approach will always lead you into a better outcome – that is getting what you paid for the right business software solution. 

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Auditor - Shlomi Lavi

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Shlomi Lavi is an entrepreneur and founder of ITQlick.com. He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Information Systems Engineering from Ben Gurion University in Israel. Shlomi brings 17 years of global IT and IS management experience as a consultant and implementation expert for small, medium and large-sized (global) companies. Shlomi’s goal is to share the best knowledge and news about information systems so you can make smarter buying decisions for your business.